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MoveOn is a community of more than 8 million Americans from all walks of life who use innovative technology to lead, participate in, and win campaigns for progressive change.Tue, 31 Mar 2015 16:17:39 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1"Selma is Now": 50 Years After Bloody Sunday There is Still Work to Be Donehttp://front.moveon.org/selma-is-now-50-years-after-bloody-sunday-there-is-still-work-to-be-done/
http://front.moveon.org/selma-is-now-50-years-after-bloody-sunday-there-is-still-work-to-be-done/#commentsThu, 12 Mar 2015 13:42:46 +0000http://front.moveon.org/?p=56531Over the weekend, thousands of Americans came together in Selma, Alabama to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Fifty years ago, on Sunday, March 7, 1965, six hundred peaceful civil rights activists, led by now-Congressman, John Lewis, marched in protest of the shooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson by an Alabama state trooper.

Just short of the Edmund Pettus Bridge—named after a 19th century Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan—the marchers were blocked by Alabama state troopers and local police, who ordered them to turn around. When the protesters refused, the officers responded with acts of terror—shooting tear gas into the crowd and beating the nonviolent protesters with billy clubs—fifty people had to be hospitalized.

The peaceful protest on that day 50 years ago, and the civil rights activism that followed, helped propel some of the most important civil rights advances of our time—including the Voting Rights Act. The phrase “Selma is now,” from the award-winning song “Glory” (made for the acclaimed movie “Selma”), has become a popular rallying cry of civil rights activists today.

The civil rights continues today—manifested most recently by the #BlackLivesMatter movement. We see those struggles in the deaths of Black people like Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, and far too many others, who died at the hands of systemic racism and police militarization. We see those struggles in the cells of our prison system—which is the largest in human history—incarcerating our own citizens at a higher rate and in great number than other country, a disproportionate of whom are people of color. We see those struggles in rising income inequality in a system that’s rigged against everyday people, with people of color bearing the heaviest burden.

And then there’s the places we don’t see those struggles, because we aren’t paying enough attention.

In 2013, the Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to the Voting Rights Act—which President Reagan called the crown jewel of civil rights legislation—gutting a system that had been in place for 48 years. The law was not only written to end existing voter discrimination but also to stop new methods of disenfranchisement that might come in the future. It required jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination to submit changes in their election rules to federal authorities for review—seems pretty reasonable, right?

Voter disenfranchisement continues in this country because the most important pieces of the Voting Rights Act don’t. 34 states have passed Republican-backed “Voter ID” laws, designed to keep minorities and the poor from exercising their right to vote. One such state is Texas. When Texas first passed a law to require voters to show a certain ID to vote, it was blocked under the Voting Rights Act. As soon as the Voting Rights Act’s pre-clearance procedure was overturned, the new law went right back into effect—disenfranchising an estimated 600,000 Black and Latino Texas voters without the proper ID to vote.

I sat with pride as I watched my president, joined by lawmakers, civil rights activists, and my fellow Americans, march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma this weekend. It is so important that we honor the brave people who suffered and often died for us to have the equality that we do in this country today. But as long as the Voting Rights Act remains critically-wounded, we are not truly honoring those leaders. We have made great strides as a country, and we continue to, but we must not give up the fight. It’s up to us to call on Congress and demand that they make the necessary amendments to the Voting Rights Act to protect every American’s right to participate in our democracy, will you become a MoveOn member, if you’re not yet a member, and commit to being a part of the work ahead?

Selma is now.

—Ben O. and the rest of the team.

Share this graphic on Facebook, Twitter, or by email today with the hashtag #Selmaisnow

Over the weekend, MoveOn.org Civic Action Executive Director Anna Galland appeared on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” for nearly an hour to take questions from callers from across the country—from all across the political spectrum.

Anna took a stand for strong progressive values and discussed the incredible work of MoveOn members and progressives across the country. A big piece of that work is our Run Warren Run campaign. In December, MoveOn launched this historic effort to encourage Senator Elizabeth Warren into the presidential election. Shortly after, our friends at Democracy for America signed on as partners. Hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country have joined the effort, and recently, New York’s Working Families Party called on Warren to run too.

P.S. Anna said so many inspiring things, but one line that stood out is this: “There’s a rising tide of people who have had enough of a rigged system. Right or left—people agree that something’s broken and we’re doing something about it. Our campaign encouraging Elizabeth Warren to run for president is part of that rising tide.”

Gone are the days when conservatives could marginalize abortion access as a social issue and claim elections hinge on economic matters, especially with women driving the margin of victory in so many elections. Women in this country know that our economic security depends on our ability to decide when and with whom we have families. More and more middle-class families dependent on two incomes viscerally understand the inextricable connection between access to family planning and their economic outlook.

]]>http://front.moveon.org/economic_war_on_women/feed/0MoveOn and NARAL hold Gardner accountable on birth controlhttp://front.moveon.org/gardner_birth_control/
http://front.moveon.org/gardner_birth_control/#commentsMon, 08 Sep 2014 11:50:06 +0000http://front.moveon.org/?p=54805MoveOn.org Political Action and NARAL Pro-Choice America have just launched this 30-second television ad attacking Republican Colorado Senate candidate Cory Gardner for trying to rewrite history and mislead voters about his real record when it comes to birth control and women’s health.

Check it out:

]]>http://front.moveon.org/gardner_birth_control/feed/0WATCH: MoveOn Executive Director Anna Galland Discusses the Progressive Agenda for 2014 on C-SPANhttp://front.moveon.org/anna_on_c-span/
http://front.moveon.org/anna_on_c-span/#commentsMon, 06 Jan 2014 20:30:24 +0000http://front.moveon.org/?p=53280Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, was on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal program yesterday to take calls from viewers and discuss what to expect in 2014. Check it out:

If you like what Anna had to say, please share this video (it’s easy, just use one of the buttons below).

]]>http://front.moveon.org/anna_on_c-span/feed/0And it's live! Welcome to our new homepage.http://front.moveon.org/new-moveon-homepage/
http://front.moveon.org/new-moveon-homepage/#commentsTue, 18 Jun 2013 16:32:37 +0000http://moveon.wpengine.com/?p=50720We’re launching a new version of the MoveOn.org homepage this morning to make it easier for members to step up as leaders of their own campaigns as well as take action in support of campaigns being run by other MoveOn members.

Here’s a quick overview of the changes we’re introducing:

Clearer pathways to campaign creation, including a much more prominent “start a petition” button at the top of the homepage. Members stepping up as leaders of their own MoveOn campaigns is core to our “Million Leaders strategy” — and the new homepage makes this much easier to do.

More opportunities to support other members’ campaigns. The left column of the homepage now features six different action opportunities at any given time, to give MoveOn members more ways to support campaigns being run by their fellow members.

More types of content. We’re introducing several new content categories, including stories about campaigns that MoveOn members have won, updates on ongoing campaigns, news about MoveOn as an organization, and highly sharable progressive content that’s both interesting and inspiring.

MoveOn members: do you have feedback on the new site? Does it meet your needs? Are there additional features you’d like to see? We’d love to hear what you’re thinking. You can give us feedback here.

MoveOn member Cathy Ware was worried about the state of her local community playground at the Beethoven School. Outdated play structures and poor groundskeeping made the playground dangerous for the young children who visited. That’s why she started a MoveOn Petition asking the Boston Parks Department to make the park safer. After many local residents signed the petition to show their support, the Parks Department allocated $335,000 for upgrades to be completed in 2014-15.

Florida honor student Kiera Wilmot faced not only expulsion, but also criminal charges, when she was accused of conducting an unauthorized science experiment on her high school campus. The resulting social media outcry included severalMoveOn Petitions demanding that prosecutors drop the charges against her. The petitions gathered nearly 2,500 signatures, and on May 15, Polk County State Attorney Jerry Hill announced that the state was dismissing the charges and Wilmot could return to school.

When a house bill in Montana threatened to allow guns on school campuses and other public places, Andy Pelosi of GunFreeKids.org took action by starting a MoveOn Petition, which gathered more than 1,000 signatures. After sustained advocacy efforts, Governor Steve Bullock vetoed the bill, and kept concealed weapons out of sporting events, dorm rooms, classrooms, and libraries.

Celeste Greig, head of the California Republican Assembly, told the media that pregnancies by rape are rare “because it’s an act of violence, because the body is traumatized.” The Courage Campaign started a MoveOn Petition calling for Greig’s resignation from her leadership position over the unscientific, offensive comments. The petition had gathered more than 28,000 signatures when it was delivered to the California Republican Party headquarters. At a CRA convention, Greig was ousted as California Republican Assembly President by an 84-78 vote for her inflammatory comments about rape.

DCP Midstream proposed building of a 22 million-gallon liquid propane storage tank in Searsport, Maine, which would mean more than a hundred trucks carrying highly volatile fuel through small coastal towns, causing noise, air, and light pollution. So Nancy-Linn Nellis started a MoveOn Petition to Maine’s governor and legislature to stop the proposal. Ultimately, DCP Midstream withdrew their application for a storage tank in Searsport.

When budgetary concerns in the state of New York threatened funds for the proposed Catskill Mountain Rail Trail, MoveOn member Eve Fox started two MoveOn Petitions asking New York legislators to restore the funding. The petitions garnered nearly 1,500 signatures. Thanks to the large show of public support, the $2 million in funding for the rail trail was restored in New York’s 2013 budget, and plans to construct the trail are moving ahead at the county level.

When Governor Phil Bryant nominated anti-choice extremist Terri Herring to the Mississippi Board of Health, the organization Mississippi United Against Personhood started a MoveOn Petition urging the Senate to block the nomination. After the petition gathered hundreds of signatures, Governor Bryant withdrew his nomination of Herring to the board.

The Bank of Hawaii’s proposed closure of its Samoan offices would have been devastating to American Samoa’s economy, leaving them with no bank. So Drew Astolfi of the organization Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) created a MoveOn Petition urging the bank not to pull out without a public hearing. The Bank of Hawaii agreed to hold a public hearing, and after doing so, decided that they need more time to make a decision about the future of their presence in Samoa.

The U.S. Navy was set to begin an explosives and sonar training program off the coast of Southern California in 2013. According to estimates, the use of high-frequency underwater sound for testing would deafen more than 15,900 whales and dolphins and kill 1,800 more over the next five years. So MoveOn member Linda Storey started a MoveOn Petition asking the Navy to stop the training program. Linda collected more than 500,000 signatures, and worked with the National Resources Defense Council and others to urge the Navy to end the program. The California Coastal Commission rejected the Navy’s training program, citing the potential harm to endangered blue whales and other sea life.

When legislation was introduced that would allow climate denial to be taught in Arizona public schools, Vincent Pawlowski started a MoveOn Petition, along with 350.org and Forecast the Facts, urging committee chairwoman Kimberly Yee to kill the bill. After the petition collected 10,000 signatures, the bill failed to make it to the Senate floor, ensuring that Arizona public school children will be taught the scientific realities of climate change.

When states had the opportunity to expand Medicaid benefits by accepting national funds through Obamacare, several tea party governors resisted. So New Mexico MoveOn member Robbyne Jones created a MoveOn Petition calling on Governor Susana Martinez to carry out the Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, in Michigan and Ohio, Fran Brennan and Dan Heck from Working America started petitions calling on Governors Rick Snyder and John Kasich to accept the funding. After the petitions collected a combined 16,000 signatures, and after grassroots campaigning by advocates, Governors Martinez, Snyder, and Kasich accepted the funds, vastly extending health care coverage in their states.

Over the past decade, enrollment at for-profit colleges has grown exponentially. Mississippi is host to dozens of for-profit colleges. While they are regulated by the state, enforcement is uneven, and standards across schools are inconsistent. To bring attention to this issue, Whitney Barkley started a MoveOn Petition demanding that the Mississippi Legislature tighten regulations on private colleges. The legislature passed a bill that more stringently regulates private schools and addresses the specific concerns about teacher standards that Barkley laid out in her petition.

In early February, the Atlanta City Council met to decide on whether to allocate $2.5 million to improving the city’s bike lanes. In order to show widespread support for the bike improvements, local resident Jonathan Bautista started a MoveOn Petition calling on the City Council to approve the funding. The City Council approved the measure, which will create 15 miles of bike lanes in much-needed areas throughout Atlanta.

Recently, several states’ Departments of Transportation announced that they would not grant driver’s licenses or state ID cards to young immigrants who qualify for work permits under President Obama’s new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In response, Matt Hildreth started a MoveOn Petition to the Iowa DOT Director asking him to reverse the decision. In Michigan, Adonis Flores, a student leader at Wayne State, along with the organization Progress Michigan, started a MoveOn Petition targeting the Michigan Secretary of State. And most recently, the organizations America’s Voice and the Latin American Coalition started MoveOnPetitions asking North Carolina not to issue pink versions of licenses to young immigrants in place of the standard version.

As a result, driver’s licenses will now be issued to young immigrants in Michigan, Iowa, and North Carolina.